Youth served: Thunder turn tables with sweep of Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks' reign is over and youth has been served in the Western Conference. A year after being eliminated by the Mavericks, the young Oklahoma City Thunder turned the tables in resounding fashion, sweeping the Mavs out in the first round with Saturday night's 103-97 win.

At a time when Dallas needed all the veteran know-how it could muster, the aging Mavericks instead ran out of gas once and for all. They blew a 13-point lead as the Thunder raced past them with a 35-16 fourth-quarter rally, paced by super-sub James Harden.

Jason Terry gave the Mavericks an 86-73 lead on a three-pointer with 9:44 to go.

Then Harden took over, scoring the next seven points and nine in the Thunder's 12-0 run to cut the deficit to one. Harden finished with a team-high 29 points off the bench, including 15 in the fourth quarter.

"We have a 13-point deficit going into the fourth quarter, and (coach) Scotty (Brooks) put the ball in my hands," Harden told TNT after the game.

The Thunder might not need any time off, but they will get a break regardless before playing the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. The Lakers lead 2-1 going into Game 4 on Sunday night in Denver.

Speaking of fourth-quarter failures, they are becoming disturbingly common for the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Clippers are happy to take advantage of them.

Six days after blowing a 27-point lead in their Western Conference series opener, the Grizzlies went more than six minutes of the final period without a field goal Saturday and fell to Los Angeles 87-86 to trail the series 2-1.

Rudy Gay, who tried to rally the Grizzlies with a couple of late three-pointers, missed a jumper as time expired, leaving Memphis on the short end.

Meanwhile, time might be running out for the Orlando Magic and coach Stan Van Gundy.

The Indiana Pacers fought off a spirited Orlando rally and held on for a 101-99 overtime victory vs. the Magic to take a 3-1 lead in their East series. The Pacers blew a 19-point fourth-quarter lead and a six-point overtime advantage, but won it on two free throws by George Hill with 2.2 seconds left.

"George Hill made some big plays down the stretch and knocked down some critical free throws, something we didn't do in Game 1," said Pacers coach Frank Vogel.

After winning two in a row on the road, the Pacers head home with a chance to close out the series Tuesday.

Winners:

David West -- Sometimes overlooked but not by his Pacers teammates. Saturday's stat line: 26 points, 12 rebounds and a game-high 47 minutes, 21 seconds of playing time.

Chris Paul -- Clippers star point guard had 24 points and 11 assists and converted a clutch jumper with 2:02 remaining for an 82-80 lead.

James Harden -- He scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, leading Oklahoma City's winning rally. The performance came only 13 days after he suffered a concussion from being elbowed by the Lakers' Metta World Peace.

Tony Parker -- Spurs point guard had 27 points, six assists and tons of big plays in the fourth quarter when he scored 16.

Losers:

Stan Van Gundy -- Will the embattled Magic coach be able to survive if Orlando goes out early?

Jameer Nelson -- His reach-in foul with 2.2 seconds left put George Hill on the line for the winning free throws. He also missed 11 of his 15 field-goal attempts, including a jumper at the end of regulation that would have won it for the Magic.

O.J. Mayo – After a clutch performance in Game 2, the Grizzlies guard was 1-for-8 from the field with five turnovers Saturday.

Jazz foul shooters -- Utah made only 14 of 26 from the free-throw line, hurting its chances to threaten the Spurs in the second half.

Mark Cuban -- After the Dallas owner decided to allow Tyson Chandler, J. J. Barea, DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler to leave the championship roster, the Mavericks went from 16 playoff victories to zero in one year.

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About Reid and Mike

Reid Cherner has been with USA TODAY since 1982 and written Game On! since March 2008.

He has covered everything from high schools to horse racing to the college and the pros. The only thing he likes more than his own voice is the sound of readers telling him when he's right and wrong.

Michael Hiestand has covered sports media and marketing for USA TODAY, tackling the sports biz ranging from what's behind mega-events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl to the sometimes-hidden numbers behind the sports world's bottom line.